The economy, stupid - Why Kamala Harris lost

Six weeks ago, I thought Harris was a shoe in. Six days ago, it was clear to me that Trump would win. Harris blew it. Why? To quote Former President Bill Clinton, The Economy, Stupid. The Democrats are historically the party of the blue collar workers, the lower middle classes, the workers. The people on the sharp edge of the economy, who suffer when times are bad. This is the core of the democrat vote. They want a candidate who talks about their problems. Whilst issues such as 'reproductive rights' are important, they are not what talks to the Democrat core. In the rest of the world, we see Trump very differently to the average American. They see him as a 'regular Joe'. They see him as a guy they could have a beer with and watch Baseball. They see him as successful and decisive. His message is simple "Make America Great Again". He talks about putting America first. Harris never addressed this. How can you hope to be become President when that's your opponents pitch and you have no catchy riposte? You might not like it but he ordinary Joes voted with their pockets. Biden won in 2020 as Trump was running on his record, which was awful. Kamala Harris wasn't associated with Bidens successes and Trump successfully painted her as the author of the regime's failures. That's how election in democracies work. Whether you like it or not, Trump won and he will be the President in January. Its not the end of the world, we had four years already of him and we survived. My Dad gave me one bit of important advice. Things are never as bad, or as good as you think they are at the time. 

Why I find Trump's behaviour unforgiveable

 I've refrained thus far from making any comment about the result of the US election. Most people in the UK don't really understand US politics and I believe that there are deep structural issues in the USA that neither candidate seem to have a program to address. I have no enthusiasm for Biden, although for me he ticks the box "lesser of two evils" politically. I have yet to meet anyone who can quote a single Biden initiative or keynote policy that is in any way inspiring. There has been lots of talk about things he might do, that I might agree with, but apart from saying a few nice words about healing America and being a President for everyone, I am yet to see any meaty policies in his manifesto that will do that. In the UK we tend to see The Democrats as Labour and The Republicans as The Tories. This is complete nonsense. The Democrats are far nearer politically to the Ken Clarke/Ted Heath school of Conservatism. Under Trump, the Republicans are pretty much and American UKIP. Just imagine if that was the only choice in the UK, would you vote for Ken Clarke or would you vote for Nigel Farage? I actually think Ken Clarke would probably be a better leader than Biden, as at least you have some idea where he stands. 

As to how Biden will treat the UK, last week, before a vote was cast, I wrote that Biden will be bad for a Boris led Great Britain. I've seen nothing to contradict this point of view. As I am not a fan of Boris and this may hasten his demise, I am not entirely sure I see that as a bad thing, but we will have to live with the consequences of his well documented antipathy towards Boris. It is highly likely to materially affect us, especially if we have a hard #Brexit with no US trade deal. For me, firms closing and people losing their jobs will be no 'silver lining'. 

Having said all of that, when we turn to Donald Trump, I detest the man. It has nothing to do with his politics, although these are not to my taste. It is the man. There are certain behaviours that I find absolutely beyond the pale. On Sunday, I wrote about my feelings about Remembrance Sunday and my Father's war career. He flew a tour of active service for the RAF during WW2. He risked life and limb for his country and freedom. On his last mission, he was shot down. His rear gunner and best friend was killed. He was taken prisoner of war and held in a camp in Bucharest, Rumania. He escaped and made it back to the UK after 68 days. Any respetc I may have had for Donald Trump, any thought of "lets give him a chance" departed on the day Mr Trump insulted my Father and every other serviceman who was held POW during the various conflicts of the 20th Century. 

Mr Trump stated during an interview in 2015, when asked about the war record of Senator John McCain "I like people who weren't captured". 

Now I accept that many people don't have relatives that had the experience my father had, weren't brought up with tales of the privations of POW's, didn't see the psychological damage caused by the PTSD associated with the experiences. I fully understand that some people may feel that Trumps policies are more important than the failures as a human being of the man. But for me, I cannot forgive a draft dodging loudmouth for an insult like this directed at people who's boots he isn't fit to clean. For me, some things will always be more important than politics. I just hope that at the next US election, the American people, our greatest friends and allies, get a more inspiring choice. I celebrated Bidens win, because Donald Trump was not, is not and never will be fit for public office.

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Barnet Eye Mythbusters #1 - The NHS is not a free service

This is the first in a series of blogs destroying some of the myths and misconceptions we all seem to have about public services. The subject? The NHS and the commonly held belief that it is a free service. It is not. It never has been and it never will be. Every single man woman and child who has ever had money has in some way shape or form paid a contribution towards the running of the service. Ah, you say. Not true, what about the single teenage mum on benefits, who has never done a days work, spending all of her benefits on fags and booze? How much tax has she paid? Well surprisingly, probably quite a lot. Alcohol and cigarattes are taxed to the hilt. When little Johnny and Gemima go to the sweetshop, 20p of every £1.20 they spend on sweeties, goes to the taxman in the form of VAT. If you give little Johnny a pound a week pocket money and he spends it on sweets and toys, £8.67 of what he has spent goes to the treasury every year.

Then there is the argument "I never use the health service, so why should I pay?". I doubt there is a single reader of this blog who hasn't benefitted from the health service. Most of us had innoculations as children, which have gone on protecting us. Diseases such as TB, Diptheria and Smallpox have disappeared (sadly TB is making a comeback). Some selfish parents do refuse to innoculate, but they are given a degree of protection by the fact that society in general has been, removing plagues of these diseases. The people who say they would rather take responsibility for their own health care and sod everyone else, neglect to acknowledge the fact that in the USA, people become uninsurable. What happens then?

In the UK we spend about 8% of our GDP on healthcare. The Americans spend 15%, yet we have universal coverage. It is true that there are some specialism, especially in the cancer field that we don't have, but for the average person in the street, you are far safer here. Why do the Americans pay nearly twice as much for a system which delivers far less to the man on the street? Because it is run by insurance companies and private hospitals. It always amuses me when right wing pundits say "I'd rather pay for my own healthcare" and cite insurance schemes. This is because in the American system, like our you don't. The healthy people in the scheme pay for the sick people in the scheme. It is like car insurance. I must have it by law. I have never (touch wood) had an accident, so I've paid thousands for nothing. If I did have a major accident, then the dynamics would change. I would become subsidised by everyone else. This is how healthcare in America works. The insurance companies make huge profits, which are paid as dividends to shareholders. That is where much of the money goes. Americans claim that their hospitals are more efficient, but a significant portion of the money is siphoned off to the shareholders of the insurance companies before it even gets to the hospitals.

The hospitals themselves are corporations. They make money by supplying services. Many tests are run, which would never get run here, purely to avoid the minute possibility of malpractice lawsuits. This ramps up costs (and profits for the hospitals). The difference between a taxpayer funded health service and a private health service is not that you only get what you pay for. It is that in the NHS, you will get treated. In a private health service, there are a million reasons why you may not. If you have ever had an break in and had to claim on your insurance, a loss adjuster comes around and tries to minimise your claim. The same thing happens in private healthcare. The companies are far keener to take the cash than pay it out.

Getting back to the point I made at the start of this blog. The NHS isn't free. We all pay for it. If a single man, who is a layabout and has never worked for a single day, has also never been ill, he will have paid a fortune into the NHS by the day he dies. He still pays VAT on most of his purchases, as well as duty on alcohol and cigarettes.

Another point about the NHS, which right wing comentators never mention is that it is good for business. Many multinational companies will locate in the UK, because there are no costs associated with healthcare for staff. In the USA, many people are tied into jobs they hate, because they need the medical cover supplied by the firm. This restricts peoples life options. Losing a job can mean losing healthcare benefits. In some major cities, such as Detroit, the death of the US motor industry, lead to the partial death of the city. People could not stay in a city without healthcare. That meant that by the time new industries were attracted to the city, the workforce had left.

We are blessed that the government after the second world war set up the NHS. For all it's problems, it is by far the best way to manage the nations health. Anyone who says otherwise, probably has a vested interest. During the last US election campaign, I was in America. Various republican figures would appear on the TV every single day, denouncing Obama and claiming he wanted to "introduce a socialist healthcare system like the British NHS". They would then claim the NHS was evil, didn't work and was hated. They would quote obscure right wing pundits (most of whom no one has ever heard of). In short, they would talk complete bollocks. I was chatting to one rather rabid, right wing American about the subject. I asked him what he thought of Margaret Thatcher. He was fullsome in his praise. I then asked if he realised that NHS budgets had massively increased in the period of her rule. He was quite taken aback. I then also pointed out that Winston Churchill had been a supporter, during his time as Prime Minister. I suggested that it was quite unlikely that the NHS was a "communist plot" as these two had not abolished it.

What Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill and every other Prime Minister since 1945 has known is that the NHS is the one institution that is sacred to the British people. Even the slightest hint that it may be dismantled is enough to end a political career. In some ways, I actually believe the Tories get away with many things, because in a Faustian pact with the British people, they leave the NHS alone. Whatever the truth of it, just remember, it is not free. We pay for it and we should be bloody proud of it to boot.